Angel in the Flames
by Desert-chan
Summary: After the sudden death of Sakura, a new girl joins Team 7. She seems to love nature, but she has a few anger issues. KibaxOC and onesided SasukexOC Rated for later violence
1. Meeting Naomi

Even after the death of a good friend and teammate, Naruto and Sasuke knew Sakura would be replaced. They waited for their sensei, who was supposed to be bringing their new teammate any minute. As usual, Kakashi was late.

"Where is he?" Naruto groaned, not as energetic as usual. 

Kakashi was just walking up to them, reading his book, with a girl following him. The girl had long, silver hair, that almost seemed angelic, and icy blue eyes that seemed to pierce into the soul of whoever she was looking at. She wore long black pants and a light blue kimono-style top. Instead of wearing her hitai-ate on her forehead, she wore it around her arm

'Wow.' Naruto thought. 'She's pretty.'

"This is your new teammate, Nakamura Naomi."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto yelled.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke muttered without looking up.

"It's nice to meet you two." Naomi answered, smiling. "When do we start my first mission, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Today." Kakashi answered. "Let me explain it first. You're going to have to find a lost cat."

"Again?" Naruto complained. "We've done this before, why again? And can we please do something more exciting?"

"For now you'll be sticking to D-rank missions. Let Naomi warm up to these missions, then you guys can do harder ones. Anyway, the owner of the cat says that her cat ran into the forest over there. I'll keep an eye on you so the little kitty doesn't kill any of you."

Kakashi watched the genins walk away, and pulled out his book. Naruto talked (a/n: I think the proper word would be flirted) with Naomi as they walked towards the forest. Sasuke just walked off to the side, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. When they got into the forest, they looked around them, but there didn't seem to be any cat within a 100-foot radius. When they listened, they could only hear the chirping of birds.

"Here, kitty!" Naomi called.

"Neko-chan!" Naruto called. "Come out!"

Naomi walked a little deeper into the forest, and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She looked around, and stared at something on the ground.

"A trap..." she muttered. "It's a good thing that squirrel up there warned me."

"Did you just say something about a squirrel?" Sasuke asked.

"Yea. The squirrel told me about the trap down here. It's really well hidden. I wonder who put it here, though?"

"Whatcha guys lookin' at?" Naruto called, running straight towards the trap. 

Sasuke put out his arm to stop Naruto. "It's called a trap, baka."

"Why would there be a trap here?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out."

"Maybe we should tell Kakashi about this?" Naomi suggested.

"But what about the mission?" Naruto complained.

"Well, if there is someone else here, we should tell our sensei." Naomi said calmly.

"Fine."

The three genin rushed out of the forest, but couldn't find where they had originally came into the forest. They seemed to be going in circles. They were lost.

Sorry that this is really short, but I wanted a cliffy. Anyway, just so everyone knows, I really hate freeloaders, and I love replies. I consider flames to be helpful, so give me your worst. But I also love compliments. 


	2. Red Eye

To my reviewers:  
logan21: Thank you for not being a freeloader and my first reviewer!  
spellsword666: What do you mean? Tyler's expression? no sox.  
o-shikyo-o: Gomen! I'm not trying to copy anybody's characters! Gomen if you think I did!

"They fell for our trap." A voice came from the bushes.

"Wonderful." Another spoke.

"I thought so." Naomi muttered. 

Two ninja jumped out of the bushes, but none of them were wearing anything to reveal what village they were from. Naomi closed her eyes and looked as if she was deep in thought. 

"What are you doing!" Sasuke yelled. "This is not a time to be thinking! You should be fighting!"

Naomi ignored him, so Sasuke and Naruto started to fight without her. They were losing terribly, but then there was a rustling in the bushes behind Naomi.

"Oh, great." Naruto yelled, dodging a kunai. "More attackers."

Instead of ninjas, five large wolves appeared.

"That's even better! Now we're being attacked by the animals!"

"They're on our side, silly!" Naomi yelled, smiling.

She jumped onto one of the wolves and pulled out a few shurikens. The wolves ran towards the two ninjas, who tried to run away, but the wolves were faster. The wolves pinned them down, and Naomi's eyes turned a chilling crimson as she stared at the ninja under the wolf she was sitting on.

"Let us out of this trap or I swear these wolves will rip your flesh off your bodies." Naomi's voice changed, too. It seemed harsh and threatening. "Also, you might want to tell us what you're doing here?"

"Fine!" the one yelled. "We'll undo the trap, just please don't kill us!"

"I'll let you two go once you explain what you're doing here."

"We're here because we wanted to test our skills on some easy targets, and we found you three. Really, I swear that's the whole truth! Please let us go!"

"Fine. If I ever see your faces here again, you will be killed. Before I let you go, there is one thing. Have you seen a cat anywhere?"

"Yes, actually. It was in a bit deeper last we saw."

"Ok, then. Bye-bye!"

Naomi muttered something in a language neither Naruto nor Sasuke could understand, and the wolves got off of the ninjas, who ran away.

"Let's go." Naomi's voice was almost back to normal, but her eyes were still red.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing that you would understand."

"Are you part of a clan or something?"

"No. I'm not. I taught myself how to speak with animals, actually. Speaking of animals, there's the cat."

Naomi pointed towards a cat who was walking towards them. She muttered something to it, and it walked right up to her. She started to leave, and Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, then followed her. They reached Kakashi within a few minutes. He was leaning against a tree, reading. By then, Naomi's eyes were back to their normal, icy blue color.

"So you've brought the cat back." he put his book away. "Ok, let's take this cat back to its owner."

"Sensei," Naomi began. "There's something you should know about."

"What?"

"We met some ninja in the forest. We don't know where they were from, but they attacked us. We drove them away, and they only seemed to be genin level, but it was still odd that they were there in the first place. They said that the just wanted to 'test their skills on easy targets', but I doubt that was it. They seemed... suspicious... I'm not sure where they would be from."

"That was awesome, how Naomi drove them away!" Naruto yelled. "She made the wolves crush them!"

"So you're saying Naomi can talk to animals?" Kakashi wondered aloud. "I have never heard of anything like that before."

"Well I did live in the wild since I was three. I was even raised by wolves."

"Even so, it's really amazing. Why were you living in the wilderness anyway?"

"My parents abandoned me. They left me in a forest, where I was raised by wolves. I stayed there until I was eleven. Then I went to the ninja academy. I taught myself how to survive and to speak to animals."

"Then what was with the red eyes and freaky voice?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Oh, that. I'd rather not explain it... too painful."

Flashback

(a/n: this is from Naomi's pov) Something was wrong. I felt it in the air. Dropping my prey, I ran back to my family's den. I stopped and hid in the bushes when I saw two humans standing there, carrying crossbows. I saw my mother (a/n: who is, by the way, actually a wolf.) coming out of the den, growling. My brother and sister followed (a/n: wolves too). One of the hunters raised their crossbow and shot a bolt at my mother. With perfect aim, the bolt pierced my mother's throat, killing her instantly. My brother and sister got frightened and started to back away. I felt fire rushing through me. My eyes began to burn. I jumped down from the tree and landed on the hunter who had shot my mother, and pulled out my kunai that I had carved out of stone and slit his throat. The other man tried to run away, but I was faster. I avenged my mother. 

These flames...anger. The anger that burned inside of me... I couldn't control it...

End of Flashback 


	3. Back into the forest

Just to let all my reviewers know, I might put up a flashback to say how Sakura died. Vote on it! If I get a certain number (like 6) people that want it, then you'll get it!

Team 7 had returned to the cat's owner, who was now holding the cat gently.

Naomi muttered something to the cat, and the cat meowed back. Naomi nodded, and smiled. She stroked the cat gently. The cat purred, and Naomi smiled.

"You really like animals, don't you?" Naruto asked. 

"Yea." Naomi looked up at Naruto and stopped petting the cat. "I do."

"Me too."

"Do you know the name of the person that always has a dog on his head?"

"Oh, that's Kiba." 

"What's the dog's name?"

"Akamaru."

"Akamaru? That's an interesting name for a dog..."

"Do you three think you could show me to where you encountered the ninjas?" Kakashi asked his students. "And about what level did they seem?"

"Judging by the way they fought, I'd say they were chuunin." Sasuke said. "If they are from a village at all. They could be missing-nins, like Zabuza."

"Do you three think you can lead me there?"

"It might be hard for us to find it, considering it was a trap and we were lost."

"I can find it easily!" Naomi volunteered.

"Let's go!" Naruto yelled.

The three genins led their sensei to the forest, where Naomi sniffed out their attackers. After being raised by wolves, her sense of smell became much stronger. She went in one direction, and her sensei and teammates followed.

"They aren't moving right now, so it will be easy to catch them." Naomi said.

They came upon a small clearing where there were two men in sleeping bags sleeping around a fire.

'They've let their guard down.' Sasuke thought. 

"What now?" Naruto yelled.

"Shh!" Sasuke whispered. "You'll wake them up if you're that loud, baka."

"Do you want me to get some wolves to hold them down?" Naomi asked.

"Sure." Kakashi answered her.

Naomi jumped into a tree and ran off. After a few minutes, she came back with two large wolves. She rode one, and the other followed. Naomi muttered something in her odd language, and the wolves jumped on top of the sleeping men, holding them down as they jolted awake.

"What in the-" one of the men yelled.

He saw a wolf standing on top of him. 

"It-It's h-her." He stammered, fear thick in his voice. "B-but with d-different eyes... Wh-what d-do you want? Please don't k-kill us!"

"I'm not here to kill you." Naomi laughed. "I'm here to get all the information out of you that I possibly can."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled. "Don't forget that we're here."

"Oh, that's right. This time my sensei and an extremly powerful genin have joined me. And a baka is here too."

"HEY!"

Sasuke smirked at this, as if agreeing with Naomi.

"Anyway, I'm not really sure of the questions my sensei wants to ask you two, so he'll do that part. I'm just here to make sure you don't get away. Anyway, go ahead sensei."

"Thank you Naomi." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "So, where are the two of you from?" 


	4. You don't like ramen!

Just to make sure that everyone knows, Naomi will definetly not become a Mary Sue, that much I can promise. Also, I know that I have some freeloaders, because there are people who have this story on their favorites, but have not reviewed. Besides that, even though my hit count is REALLY low (like in the teens :() This is the most reviews I've ever gotten, so I'll continue.

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Without any warning, the two men disappeared.

"They were probably replications!" Sasuke got into a battle stance, keeping his guard up.

Team 7 heard a laughing above them, which faded away quickly.

"They got away..." Naomi muttered.

"I'll catch them!" Naruto yelled. He was about to jump away when his sensei stopped him.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said. "What are you thinking?"

"Baka."

Naomi carefully searched the area, but she couldn't find anything that would tell them the village the men had come from. She let out a sigh and turned to the wolves. She muttered something in the forest language, and the wolves nodded and ran off. Then a smile suddenly spread across Naomi's face.

"I forgot!" she yelled, making Naruto jump. "That scent I caught earlier! They were here!"

"Who's this 'they'?" Sasuke asked.

"My brother and sister."

"Human or wolf?"

"The only ones that I have any memory of. I'll be right back."

"Naomi!" Kakashi called, making Naomi stop. "Don't run off when the enemy is still somewhere in this forest!"

Naomi looked embaressed for a moment.

'That seemed like something Naruto would have done!' she thought to herself. 'I just made a fool of myself.'

"Umm... gomen..." Naomi muttered.

"Should we go inform the hokage about this?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably." Kakashi answered. "We don't know if those men are a threat to Konoha, so it would, yes, make sense to tell the third."

The four ninjas jumped away, and went to find the hokage. He was where he normally would be. (a/n: I don't know if this place has a specific name, but um... that's good for now! Oh, and this obviously takes place before the death of the third hokage, so don't get confused!) Kakashi informed him about what had happened, as Naomi talked with her teammates.

"I wonder where those guys were from?" she wondered aloud.

"They weren't wearing anything that would give that away." Sasuke said. "Their clothes didn't help much, either. From what they were wearing, it would be almost impossible to guess."

"So, Naomi-chan." Naruto said. "Do you want to go out for ramen tonight?" 

"Err... I'd love to, but I...umm... don't like ramen! Yeah, that..."

"You don't like ramen! How is that possible!"

"ummm... I'm not sure? I just don't?"

"You're a really bad lier." Sasuke whispered in Naomi's ear. "But Naruto's too much of a baka to notice, so you're safe."

Naomi smiled at Naruto, and at that time, their sensei was walking up to them.

"Yo." he said. "Well, I guess that we're done for the day. You can go home now. Bye." 


	5. Memories

Naomi was walking home by herself when she noticed Kiba's team. She smiled to herself and walked over to them.

"Hello." she said. the three in front of her turned around and looked at her. "My name is Nakamura Naomi. I'm the new member of Team 7."

"I'm Aburame Shino."

"My name is Inazuka Kiba. This is Akamaru." 

"Woof!"

"I-I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata. Nice t-to meet you."

"Same to you. I love your dog, Kiba-san."

"You like animals, too?"

"I love animals. "What about you two?"

"Yes. Especially insects."

"Y-yes."

"I guess we all are similar on that note, then. Well, I should probably get going. I have to make myself dinner."

"You can come with us." Kiba offered.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all."

"N-no. I don't mind."

Naomi smiled and joined them walking. She walked in between Kiba and Hinata. She talked to Akamaru a little bit, using her forest language.

"You can speak with dogs?" Kiba asked.

"Um... I guess so. But it's not only dogs. It's every animal. They all seem to understand the same language."

"How did you learn to do that?"

"Well... It's a long story. I'll explain it as we eat."

The four genins got to the restaurant. Shino and Kiba sat on one side, and Hinata and Naomi were on the the other side. Naomi explained how she had learned to speak with animals.

"Wow." Kiba said. "That's pretty cool. Do you think you could teach me your forest language? It sounds pretty useful."

"I don't know if I can, but I can try. When do you want me to start?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. Time? Meeting place?"

"Whenever Kakashi sends you home, and where you found us before."

"Okay. See you then."

After saying goodbye to Hinata and Shino, Naomi went back home.

'Yes!' she thought to herself. 'This is my chance with Kiba!'

with Naruto

Naruto ate his ramen as fast as usual.

"Slow down." Ayame told him. "You might choke to death if you eat that fast."

Sasuke

Sasuke walked alone, staring at the ground and holding his hands in his pockets. Not looking where he was going, he slammed into a girl in front of him. He looked at her, and saw her pink hair.

"Sorry." he muttered, and ran off.

Once he reached his house, (a/n: or whatever you wish to call it.), he went inside and sat on his bed. Memories of Sakura flashed through his mind. He really had had feelings for her, but he couldn't change the fact that she was dead. 

Flashback

Sasuke prepared for the end as a kunai shot towards him. He knew he was too weak to guard it, so he just had to wait for his death to come. Suddenly a figure jumped in front of him, blocking the kunai. Sasuke saw that it was Sakura. Sakura screamed in pain as the kunai went deep into her arm. Kakashi quickly finished off the enemy and ran over to Sakura, Naruto close behind him. Sakura winced in pain as her sensei pulled the kunai out of her arm. He inspected its tip closely.

"This has a poison tip." he concluded. "The poison seems to be pretty strong. Naruto, you help Sasuke. I'm going to take Sakura to the hospital. This poison needs to get out of her body as soon as possible!"

Kakashi took Sakura and went back to Konoha village as fast as he could and went immediatly to the hospital, where Sakura was taken to the emergency room. The nurse told him he couldn't stay, so he left and found Naruto and Sasuke. They were still in the forest, worrying about Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called. "Is Sakura going to be alright?"

"I'm not sure, but the nurse said she probably won't make it through."

Naruto and Sasuke both closed their eyes.

The next day

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi all went together to the hospital to check on Sakura. Kakashi went to the desk and talked to the nurse that was working there.

"Haruno Sakura? Let me check our records. One minute, please."

"Thank you." Kakashi replied.

The nurse flipped through a book, and stopped after a few pages. Her face suddenly became downcast.

"I'm terribly sorry. Our records say that she died last night. The poison that was in her system killed her."

End of flashback

Sasuke realized he was crying. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and went into the kitchen to eat. 


	6. Injured

OOPS! I just realized that I've been forgeting to write a disclaimer... don't sue me, please! Anyway, here you go:

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it wouldn't be based on that baka, it would be based on Gaara (who probably won't be in this story :( Too bad for me!)

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Naomi woke up late that morning, but she still met her team before her sensei, but that was nothing unusual. She couldn't wait for that night; she would be alone with Kiba. 

"What are you so happy about?" Sasuke muttered.

"It's nothing." Naomi answered. "What are you so grumpy about?"

"It's not your business!"

"Were you thinking about Sakura last night?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke didn't answer, but closed his eyes. Naomi and Naruto noticed tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Ohayoo!" The genins saw their sensei walking towards them.

"Wow, sensei." Naruto said. "You're only an hour late today!"

"I just had some business I had to take care of."

"Of course you did." 

"Sasuke, you're awfully silent this morning. Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"You could say that."

"Did you think about Sakura last night?"

"Why does everyone assume this! Is it any of your business anyway!"

Sasuke looked away as Naruto, Naomi, and Kakashi stared at him. 

"About today's mission," Kakashi began. "We will be going into the forest to try and track those ninjas you found yesterday. I don't know how easy it will be, considering they haven't been there since we encountered them last night."

The four ninjas walked towards the forest silently. Once they got there, they walked into the forest. Naomi went to get some wolves for them to ride on. When she came back, she had four wolves, two of which she seemed very happy to see.

"Everyone, these are my brother and sister, Segolia and Zev. This is Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke."

"Err... nice to meet you?" Kakashi said, confused.

Naruto seemed rather quiet, which was odd. Everyone got on a wolf, and Naomi and Sasuke were the only two who seemed fine with riding them. Naruto had trouble getting onto the wolf, and ended up being dragged by the wolf as they went along. Naomi rode on Segolia, and Kakashi was on Zev. Kakashi was having trouble staying on. There wasn't really any need for the wolves, because soon after they got on, the ninjas attacked them. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke jumped off the wolves, because they fought better that way. Naomi stayed on. Zev and Segolia stayed to help their sister, but the other two wolves ran away. Naruto threw a kunai at their enemies, but it was easily dodged. Kakashi fought head-on with one of them, and easily killed him within a few minutes. Sasuke and Naomi attacked the other one, while Naruto attempted to attack, missing every time. After a minute of difficulty hitting his opponent, Sasuke jumped away and pulled out eight shurikens. The enemy dodged them, managing to give Naomi a deep shoulder wound in the process. Naomi, who hadn't seen the shurikens come towards her, tryed to follow the enemy, but got hit with Sasuke's shurikens. Kakashi saw this and killed the enemy ninja just as he lunged at Naomi's throat with a kunai. Sasuke and Naruto ran over to Naomi as their sensei searched the corspes. 

"I'm sorry Naomi." Sasuke said calmly. "If my target hadn't dodged, you probably wouldn't have been hit."

The shurikens had all hit Naomi. One came dangerously close to her neck, and the others were on her arms and legs mostly, but a few had hit her chest. 

"It's ok." Naomi croaked. She was weak from the lose (sp?) of blood. "I'll be fine."

"You two take Naomi to the hospital." Kakashi instructed his students. "I found something here, and I need to look at it more closely. I'll see you later."

Sasuke nodded and lifted Naomi off of the ground. He rushed through the trees, Naruto close behind. They made their way quickly to the hospital, where Naomi was taken into the emergency room to be healed by medic-nins. Sasuke and Naruto went home. A nurse had told them to come back later that night if they wanted to visit her. .

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Naruto and Sasuke turned around to see Kiba running towards them, Akamaru on his shoulder. "Have either of you seen Naomi?"

Naruto and Sasuke suddenly looked downcast.

"She's not..."

"No, she'll be fine." Sasuke told him. "She got... injured in battle and had to go into the emergency room. She lost quite a bit of blood."

Kiba looked surprised at this. "How did this happen?"

"I... accidently hit her with some shurikens. I nearly killed her, too"  
"WHAT! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

"It was an accident!" Naruto butted in.

Kiba calmed down suddenly. "I see. When will she be taking visitors?"

"The nurse said later tonight."

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Ok, sorry it took me so long to update, but I've had play rehersal, more play rehersal, Confirmation stuff, etc., etc. Anyway, hope you liked it! If I don't get at least three reviews, no new chapter for you! (teehee. Sasuke did a bad thing. Maybe I should kill him too...) 


	7. Starting the lessons

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, (which I don't), it would be the great new craze that's sweepin' the nation. (I don't own School House Rock either)  
to kamilog: I didn't take it the wrong way, don't worry. Anywho, there won't be anymore sadness (i hope) unless I get depressed (which happens easily). That was pretty much it. And are you saying it's a BAD thing that Kiba is so nice? Does it seem too OOC...? gomen if it does!

DAMN YOU FREELOADERS! YOU SHOULD ALL DIE AND BURN IN HELL! (ok, you don't have to go to Hell, but you should still burn)  
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Later that night

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba walked together to go see Naomi. When they got there, Naomi was just waking up.

"Hi, Naomi!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"How are you feeling?" Kiba asked.

Sasuke remained silent, a guilty look on his face.

"I'm feeling much better." Naomi said, smiling. "I'm sorry about tonight Kiba. I had no clue I was going to get this badly wounded."

"It's okay. You can start to teach me when you feel better."

"Alright. Sounds good to me."

Naruto got a curious look on his face. "Teach him?"

"I was going to teach Kiba the forest language."

"Oh... Okay..."

Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke stayed for a while longer and then went home to sleep.

Naomi eventually drifted off to sleep herself, glad that her friends had come to visit her.

The next morning

Naomi was feeling much better now, but Kakashi wouldn't let her join Naruto and Sasuke on their missions for a few days. She was sent home. During these few days, she didn't really have much to do, so she just shopped and hung around. That night, she went for a walk and saw Kiba walking home. She waved at him and ran towards him. He waved back, and Akamaru barked.

"How are you feeling?" Kiba asked her.

"Much better. Thatnk you for asking. I think I'm feeling up to teaching you some basics today, if you're free."

"I should probably go home to eat first. Kurenai didn't even give us a lunch break, so I'm starving."

"I can cook you something. I don't mind."

"Alright. Thanks."

Kiba and Naomi walked to her apartment. They went inside the apartment building and up to Naomi's room. Naomi walked into the kitchen, signaling to Kiba to sit down at the table. She made some beef stew for him. (a/n: I learned how to make this when I helped to write the Constitution. It's kind of an inside joke.) 

"Is it ok for Akamaru to eat this or..."

"It's fine."

Naomi pulled out three bowls and poured some of the stew into each of them. After they had finished eating, she led Kiba into the living room and they sat down next to each other on the couch.

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I'm sorry this is so short, but I wanted to put something up before I left. I'll only be gone for the weekend, coming back on Monday afternoon, so expect something by hopefully that night or Tuesday morning. SPRING BREAK! WOOT! BRING OUT THE SAND!

Soon, I think I'm going to begin with the chuunin exams in a few chapters. I'm going to make them A LOT different than it was in the show. This way I can be happy (I can bring in Gaara). Also, the KibaxOC will definetly be starting next chapter. 


	8. Long Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I wish I owned the puppy... and Gaara...

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That night, Naomi taught Kiba basic greetings. 

"Well, then," Naomi started. "Can we meet again tomorrow?"

"Sure." Kiba answered.

"Bye Kiba, and of course, bye Akamaru."

Akamaru answered Naomi with a bark, and Kiba left.

Kiba continued to come over to Naomi's apartment for a week. By this time, Kiba and Naomi both realized they started to have feelings for each other. Neither of them would confess it to the other. One night in particular, Naomi was teaching Kiba about basic conversation.

"It's getting pretty late." Kiba noticed. "I'd better get going. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Naomi answered.

As Naomi and Kiba walked towards the door, Kiba turned to say goodbye. 

"Goodbye." he said.

After that, he gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

"What was that?" Naomi asked, blushing.

"My way of thanking you."

Kiba smiled and left, leaving Naomi speechless, and quite happy. She closed the door and went to bed, excited for the next day.

When Naomi woke up the next morning, she realized that she had forgot to set her alarm clock, so she had woken up two hours late. She ran into the kitchen and didn't even stop for breakfast; she could get some berries in the forest. She ran towards the bridge where she usually met her team and saw that no one was there. She looked around, confused, when a shuriken flew at her. Next she heard Naruto yelling at Sasuke, and Kakashi trying to get them to shut up. 

"I know you guys are there, you can come out." Naomi said. "I'm sorry I was late. I overslept."

"Kakashi-sensei got here earlier than you!" Naruto said, pointing out the obvious. "That's new."

Kakashi and Sasuke followed Naruto out of the bushes, and Kakashi was reading Icha Icha Paradise. Naomi smiled at them, embaressed. 

"I forgot to set my alarm." she said, laughing.

Sasuke smirked and muttered "baka" when she wasn't listening, and Naruto laughed along with her.

"It's ok." Kakashi told her. "I do that a lot. Now about today's mission. We have to guard someone on their way to a political meeting in the country of water."

"That's a bit far, isn't it?" Naomi asked, realizing that this mission would keep her away from Kiba.

"We probably won't be back for about a week or so."

"A week..."

Naomi let out a howl, and Zev and Segolia, along with a smaller wolf, came running up to her. She informed them what was going on, and they barked in reply. She took a piece of paper from her bag and wrote that she would be away for a week, then told the smaller wolf to find Kiba and give it to him.

"What was on that note?" Naruto asked Naomi.

"Nothing important."

"We'd better get to the hokage's office soon." Kakashi interupted. "We're supposed to meet the person we're protecting there."

Kakashi's students followed him to the hokage's office.

-With Kiba's team-

Just as Kurenai finished telling them about their mission for that day, when a small wolf came running up to them, a piece of paper hanging out of his mouth. He dropped the paper at Kiba's feet, and everyone stared at it. The wolf stared expectently at Kiba, waiting for him to read Naomi's note. Kiba slowly picked it up of the ground and unfolded it. The note read as follows:

'Kiba-  
I'm sorry, but Kakashi is sending us on a week-long mission, so I won't be able to give you any forest language lessons for a while. See you then!

Love, Naomi'

Kiba stared at the note for a minute, and then turned back to his teammates, putting the note into his pocket.

"What was that all about?" Kurenai asked him.

"Nothing important." he muttered, downcasted.

"All right, then. On with the mission!"

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Yay! I finally posted! Sorry that it took me so long... R AND R NOW! Anywho, I want at least 3 reviews for next chapter, but 2 will do. 


	9. Roommates

About flamers: I haven't yet gotten any flames, and I hope not to, but I'd prefer that the flames stay inside the fire pit, so while they are hot, they can't burn. Yay! I made a cool expression-thingy! eh.. 

_This means someone is either dreaming or having a flashback._

_**This means someone is talking in the forest language.** _

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Naomi tried to laugh as Naruto and Sasuke aruged, but she really couldn't wait to get back so she could be with Kiba. The person who they were guarding, Hamaguchi Masatake, walked next to Kakashi, where he felt safest.

"So, why do you need someone to protect you to go to a meeting?" Kakashi asked.

"I can't tell you directly about the meeting," Masatake began. "The information is confidential. But it is likely that someone would send ninjas to stop me, or anyone else coming, for that matter."

"Ah."

Naomi tuned out everything that was going on around her as they continued to walk along. There was a sudden bark, and she screamed in surprise. She looked around to see Kakashi, Masatake, and her teammates staring at her. She then realized that it had only been Zev. She smiled and blushed, embarressed. The four males in front of her turned forward again, and they continued walking. Naomi turned to Zev.

**_"What was that for?"_** Naomi growled.

**_"I was just checking to see if you were okay."_** Zev answered.

**_"I'm... fine... it's nothing that concerns you."_**

**_"Does it have something to do with Kiba?"_**

**_"No... yes."_**

**_"Do you really love him?"_**

**_"Of course I do."_**

**_"Are you sure?"_** Segolia joined in on the conversation.

**_"Yes. I can't wait until we get back."_**

**_"Have you told him how you feel?"_**

**_ "You sound like a conselour. But, no. I haven't."  
_**

"Naomi." Kakashi called back.

"What?"

"Were you paying attention to what I just said?"

"Umm... no, sorry."

"We're going to go into the town over there for the night."

**_"Okay. Segolia, Zev. You two can come in with me. I'd rather not be alone, in the mental state I'm in."_**

**_"Don't you have your teammates?"_** Segolia asked.

**_"They're no help. They usually make things worse, espcially Naruto. I think the two of you will be more helpful."_**

**_"I guess that's true."_**

As team 7 and Masatake approached the town, Naomi let out a long sigh. They went inside and found a hotel, where they got three rooms: one for Kakashi, one for Masatake, who was rooming with Sasuke, and one for Naomi, who had to room with Naruto. Naomi was complaining inside her head, but she didn't want to hurt Naruto's feelings, so she kept her complaints to herself. She plopped down onto the mat where she was sleeping, and with one hand stroked Zev, and with the other, Segolia. She wanted to leave this town as soon as they possibly could the next morning, so that they could get back to Konoha.

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R & R please! I think I'll end the mission in a few chapters, like 2 or 3, and then begin the chunnin exams! YAY!


	10. Grass Ninja Attack!

You can't make me say it! Fine... I will

Disclaimer: Dreams really DON'T come true. I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. depressed sigh YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! Fine, I don't own Gaara, either... cries

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The next morning, after eating breakfast, the four ninjas and Masatake left the town. As they wandered down the road, Naomi thought she heard something calling to her from a nearby forest. She walked to the edge of the forest and peered inside, but she couldn't see anything.

"Oy!" Sasuke called to her. "What are you doing?"

"We have a mission!" Naruto yelled. "Come on!"

"Sorry." Naomi called back. "I just thought I heard something calling to me in the forest."

"You were right! Turn around!"

Naomi quickly spun around to see... nothing.

"Naruto!" she shouted. "Don't play practical jokes on me!"

Naruto was too busy laughing to answer to this. Naomi glared at him, until her sensei told them to stop.

"Hey! You two! Stop! We have a day to get to the country of water, come on!"

"I was almost positive I heard something in the bushes." Naomi muttered to herself as they began walking again.

"Maybe you were right." It was the same voice Naomi had heard before. "Or maybe it's all in your head."

"Who's there!"

Again, the four in front of Naomi stared at her.

"Umm... Sorry..."

"No one believes you."

"Stop bothering me!" Naomi said, making sure to keep her voice low.

"You're no fun. I guess I'll just get rid of you, then."

Naomi suddenly felt a burning sensation in her chest, and she fell onto her knees. She began to cough up blood. Zev began to bark, trying to get someone's attention. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Masatake turned around and gasped.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded.

Naomi tried to tell him, but when she opened her mouth, she began to cough up more blood. After coughing for a few seconds, she managed to get out some words.

"Burning... chest... " she coughed.

"I've heard of this!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Kakashi-sensei, isn't this a ninjutsu?"

"Yes. Naomi should be fine in a few minutes. Until then, we have to make sure she doesn't lose too much more blood. And now we know that someone is following us..."

"Correct." A ninja stepped out of the bushes, wearing all black and a kiate-ate revealing he was from the hidden grass village. "Hamaguchi Masatake will not be going to the meeting in the country of water. I can make sure of that."

The ninja jumped towards Naomi, who was now vulnerable. Naomi tried to stand up, but she fell back down to the ground. Sasuke jumped in front of the ninja, and blocked his sword with his arm. Sasuke winced slightly as the blade met the flesh of his arm, and his blood fell to the ground. The grass ninja smirked and pushed his blade deeper into Sasuke's arm. Sasuke winced again, and Kakashi jumped at the ninja, holding out his kunai. There was a clang of metal as the two blades met. Kakashi and the grass ninja battled for a few minutes, when the grass ninja looked like he was getting tired.

"This is troublesome." he muttered. "If I can't get Hamaguchi Masatake dead, I might as well not waste my time. Goodbye for now!"

The grass ninja sheathed his sword, bowed, and jumped away into the forest.

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Sorry I take so long to update! I'm trying, but my computer time has been limited to two hours a day... GRR MY PARENTS! Ok, aside from that, have a nice day. :) And smile, yes, that too. 


	11. Confession

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto.

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That night, Naruto, Sasuke, Naomi, Kakashi, and Masatake stopped for the night in a small town, and the next afternoon, they reached the country of water.

"I'm actually surprised that grass ninja didn't come back." Masatake commented. "There's the meeting hall. I don't need an escort back; I already have someone for that. Thank you, and goodbye!"

"GOODBYE!" Naruto shouted.

"Bye." Naomi said, much more quietly than Naruto. 

The four Konoha ninjas walked back to Konoha, with one less member than they had on the way there. They got to Konoha without meeting any enemies, which was slightly surprising to all of them. They did, though, meet four sand ninjas.

"Are you here for the chuunin exams?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes." the oldest answered. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. These are my students, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Nakamura Naomi."

"My name is Baki. These are my students, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro."

The six genins inspected each other as they walked back to Konoha.

"Naomi." Zev barked. "Those ninjas don't look ordinary. I don't think we want to fight them. Especially the kid with the tattoo."

"I know, Zev." Naomi growled back, continuing to glare at Gaara. "I'll be careful."

"The way you're glaring at him, you might make him your enemy!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes at Naomi, while Kankuro and Temari sent death glares to everyone in Team 7. Naomi looked forward, and remembered that when she got back to Konoha, she could be with Kiba again. All her fear and hatred towards the sand nins disappeared as she thought about the only person she had ever loved.

"What are you smiling about?" Naruto asked Naomi.

"Nothing important." Naomi answered hastily.

'Naomi looks cure when she smiles.' Sasuke thought to himself.

When they got back to Konoha, Kakashi told his students to get plenty of rest for tomorrow, when they would start their three-days training for the chuunin exams. Naomi dimissed Zev and Segolia, who barked and ran into the forest. Naruto raced towards the ramen stand, not bothering to say goodbye to his teammates. Sasuke went up to Naomi.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat?" he asked her.

"Sorry, I have plans." she answered. "See you tomorrow."

Sasuke smiled and waved at Naomi as she left.

'Oh, no. He doesn't like me or something, does he?' Naomi thought.

Naomi walked towards the training ground where she was most likely to find Kiba. When she got there, she saw Kurenai's students doing some target practice.

"All right!" Kurenai called. "We're done for today! See you guys tomorrow."

Everyone except for Kiba left, leaving Kiba sitting in the middle of the training ground.

"Hi, Kiba." Naomi broke the silence.

"Naomi!" Kiba sounded surprised. "I didn't expect you back for a few days."

"The mission went faster than expected. I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house to learn some more?"

"Sure."

"I really missed you."

"Same to you."

Naomi and Kiba walked back to Naomi's apartment, where Naomi prepared some fish and the sat down at the table. That night, Naomi finished teaching him the basics.

"Tomorrow we can start with some more difficult stuff." Naomi said cheerfully.

Naomi and Kiba walked towards the door, and Naomi opened the door.

"Bye." Naomi said, smiling.

"Before I go," Kiba began, "there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I.. don't really know how to put... this... but... I ...I-I l-lo...-"

"Don't worry. I know exactly what you are trying to say, and I love you too. More than a friend. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

Naomi closed the door and leaned against it. She smiled to herself, and there was a knock on the door. Naomi answered the door quickly, and found herself in Kiba's embrace. He kissed her passionetly, with a kiss that lasted for a few minutes. Every 30 seconds or so, they broke apart for air. After they kissed, Naomi and Kiba smiled at each other.

"Goodnight." Kiba finally said, and then he left.

Naomi closed the door again, and within a few minutes, there was another knock. She answered the door, and found Gaara standing there. Gaara pushed her into the room and held her up against a wall, his hands clasped tightly around her throat. There was a thirst for blood in his eyes, and Naomi was too scared to try and fight back. She just had to wait there, and pray that he would let go. If he didn't, she would die.

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Yay for Gaara! Except, boo for Gaara trying to kill Naomi! Heehee... No bedroom scene, people! Kiba and Naomi are what, 13? 


	12. Fear

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Interesting fact: I was reading Wolf's Rain, and in the back of the book, it had the translation for the name of the four wolves, and Kiba means fang.

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Naomi tried to gasp for breath, but Gaara's grip on her throat made it impossible. She stared at him, fear in her eyes, and Gaara loosened his grip. Naomi gasped and took in as much oxygen as she possibly could with one breath, before Gaara tightened his grip again. Sand flowed from his gourd all around him, surronding the two of them. 

"Please." Naomi croaked. "Let... go.."

The thrist for blood left Gaara's eyes, but his grip didn't loosen. Naomi felt herself getting weaker, and she soon fainted from lack of oxygen. Gaara dropped her to the ground, and for a moment, glared hatefully at her, then left, closing the door behind him.

The next morning, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto had been waiting for Naomi for three hours, but she still hadn't regained conciousness. 

"You two start some target practice." Kakashi instructed. "I'm going to go make sure Naomi didn't 'oversleep' again."

Kakashi jumped on the roofs to Naomi's apartment, where he just jumped in the open window. He saw Naomi lying on the ground, and his eye went wide.

"Naomi!" Kakashi yelled as he shook her. "Wake up!"

Naomi blinked open her eyes and looked up at her sensei.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Where did Gaara go?"

"Gaara was here? What did he do to you?"

"He tried to strangle me. But... he let me live... And Kiba! He might of killed Kiba!"

"Naomi! Where are you going?"

Naomi staggered slightly as she walked towards the door.

"Don't worry. Kiba's fine. I saw him walking with his team this morning. Do you know why Gaara tried to kill you?"

"No... I don't... The sand... The sand..."

Naomi was shaking over every inch of her body as she remembered what had happened last night. 

"I think you should stay home and rest for today. Obviously something happened last night, and I don't think you're in the mental state to train. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kakashi jumped back out the window, and Naomi fell onto her knees and cried. She didn't want to die. Especially after what Kiba had confessed to her last night. Finally, she knew how he truly felt about her. 

-With Gaara (Gaara's POV)-

I sat on my bed, listening to my siblings talking about nonsense outside of the room. I wasn't really paying any attention to a word they said, I was just listening. I got up and walked out of the room, and down the road towards an apartment complex. The one he had been to last night. I walked inside, and up to the third floor, where her room was. I knocked on the door, and heard her screaming.

"Go away!" she screamed. Her voice was full of fear, and I again felt the thirst for blood. "Get away from here! Stop bothering me!"

I wanted to see blood. I wanted that familiar smell to fill me. The sand flowed from my gourd and surrounded me. I thrust the door open, and I saw her cowering in fear in the corner, tears flowing from her eyes. I smiled at the sight. I commanded the sand to go towards her. She looked up at me, and her eyes were filled with a familiar sadness. My mind flashed to Yashamaru, and I brought the sand back into my gourd and left.

-Naomi's POV-

I watched him with sadness in my eyes as he left the room. He shot me a glare as he left the room, and I sighed in relief after he closed the door. I staggered into my bedroom and lay down on the bed, and drifted into a deep slumber.

-Third person--With Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke-

"Oi!" Kakashi called to his students. "I'm back!"

"HI KAKASHI!" Naruto yelled.

"Where's Naomi?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"She won't be joining us today."

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't think you'd want to train if someone nearly murdered you the night before."

"Who tried to kill her? I'll kill that bastard!"

Kakashi and Naruto stared at Sasuke, who blushed.

"All right." Kakashi broke the silence. "Let's train!"

Kakashi led his students to a place where did some target practice as he read Icha Icha Paradise.

-Back with Gaara (3rd person)-

Gaara walked back to the building he was staying in for three days with his siblings, clutching his throbbing head. As he walked into the room, Temari and Kankuro looked at him, fear in the back of their eyes.

"Where were you?" Temari demanded.

Gaara just glared at her, and she sat down, scared of what he might do to her if she said anything more. Gaara sat down on the chair that was sitting in a corner of the room, and closed his eyes.

-Kiba's team-

'I can't believe I told her.' Kiba thought to himself. 'I'm so happy she feels the same way! I'm glad I told her. She's probably too shy to confess that, so I'm glad I said something.'

"Umm, K-Kiba-kun..." Hinata muttered.

"What do you want!" Kiba snapped back.

"I-I'm so-sorry... I j-just was won-wondering if something is wrong?"

"It's nothing. Actually, I'm in a great mood today. Thanks for asking, though. We should get back to training. The chuunin exams are in two days."

"I know. I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

Kiba and Hinata stood up and continued their training.

-Naomi-

When Naomi woke up, she realized that it was nearly evening, and she should be going to meet Kiba soon. She quickly changed into a tight-fitting, light green shirt and darker green pants. She ran towards Kiba and her meeting place, and sat down on a bench. She saw Kiba approaching, but she found she couldn't smile. The fear was still there. The fear of being killed. The fear that something or someone was watching her... 


	13. Training Again

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Naomi stood up from the bench and ran over to Kiba. She stood in front of him, and he smiled at her. Naomi forced a smile, but she still felt fear, which made it hard to smile. She gently patted Akamaru on the head, and he let out a small yip of pleasure.

"Is something wrong?" Kiba asked Naomi.

"What makes you think that?" Naomi asked as she felt her smile disappear and her throat closing up. She tried to hold back her tears.

"You're forcing a smile, and you look like you're about to cry. You can tell me the truth."

"It's... nothing." 

Naomi felt her hot tears running down her face, and Kiba held her close. Naomi cried into his chest. After crying for a few minutes, both of them walked back to Naomi's apartment in silence. Kiba had his arm around her shoulder, and as they were walking, they met with Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Kiba hugging Naomi, and a slight look of hurt appeared across his face. Naomi and Kiba smiled at their fellow rookies.

"So, Naomi," Naruto started. "What happened last night?"

A slight blush appeared around Kiba's cheeks, thinking that Naruto was talking about what had happened between them.

"Oh..." Naomi bit her lip, not wanting to tell them. "Kakashi told you?"

"Kakashi knows!" Kiba demanded.

"H-how did you find-find out?" Naomi stammered.

"Oh, you're not talking about.. that..."

Naomi began to blush madly. "N-no. That's not what I meant. Err.. how do I explain this... After Kiba left my apartment-"

"What was Kiba doing in your apartment?" Sasuke asked.

"I was teaching him something. As I was saying, after Kiba left, I heard a knock on the door, so I answered it, and Gaara was standing there-"

"It was Gaara!"

"How much did Kakashi tell you?"

"He just told us someone tried to murder you last night."

"SOMEONE TRIED TO MURDER YOU LAST NIGHT!" Kiba yelled.

"Don't say it so loud! People are staring!" Naomi hissed, and sure enough, many people began to stare at the four ninjas. "And, yes. That was Gaara. Please, no more questions until I finish. So, Gaara was standing there, and he rushed into the room and pinned me against a wall, grasping my throat. I fainted, probably from lack of oxygen, and the next thing I knew, Kakashi was standing over me. He let me stay home, and Gaara came back, and his sand started to come towards me. Then, he just... left... It was kind of weird."

"Are you okay now?" Kiba and Sasuke asked in unison.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I'll definetly be back to train tomorrow."

"Good. See you then."

Sasuke and Naruto left Kiba and Naomi.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Kiba asked Naomi.

"I didn't want you to worry. I'm sorry."

There was a minute of awkward silence, until Kiba looked shyly at Naomi.

"Are you afraid he'll come back?"

"...Yes. I'm afraid he still wants to kill me. I'm not really sure why he wanted to kill me in the first place. I guess it had something to do with the fact that I was glaring at him, and Zev and Segolia were also staring at him."

"Zev and Segolia?"

"My brother and sister."

"Those sound like wolf names."

"They are wolves."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot."

"It's ok."

"You do know we just passed your apartment building."

Naomi blushed as they turned around. They walked up to the third floor, where Naomi's apartment was.

"Are you hungry?" Naomi asked Kiba and Akamaru.

"I don't want you to make so much food for me." Kiba commented. "Isn't it a waste of money?"

"I really don't mind... It's not that much money..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, already! What do you want?"

"Whatever you have."

"Do you mind if I just make some instant ramen?

"I don't mind. Whatever you have."

"Kay."

Naomi cooked the three-minute ramen, and sat down at the table. She taught Kiba some conversational forest language, and then Kiba had to go.

"It's getting really late. With the chuunin exams so close by, I think I should be getting more sleep."

"Agreed. I don't think it would be a good idea for us to meet tomorrow. We do need more sleep, and our senseis might keep us later than usual."

"Okay, then. I guess I'll see you at the chuunin exams."

"At the... chuunin exams..."

"Are you still scared?"

"...Yes. I don't want to have to face him at the chuunin exams."

"Don't worry about it. Nothing will happen. I promise. I'll protect, no matter what happens."

Naomi smiled at Kiba. "Thanks."

Kiba gave Naomi a small kiss on the cheek before leaving, and Akamaru barked his goodbye. Naomi went to bed right after Kiba left.

The next morning, Naomi met her teammates by the bridge, and then Kakashi came, surprisingly only ten minutes late.

"Wow, Kakashi." Naruto remarked. "You aren't that late!"

"The chuunin exams are tomorrow. You need training."

Naomi did some target practice while Naruto and Sasuke practiced tree-climbing and water-walking. Naomi still had that feeling. The feeling of fear. The feeling that someone was watching her.

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I guess I didn't really make this clear, so I'll let it by for now. For each chapter, I want at least 2 reviews before I continue:) 


	14. First Exam

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Finally! The chuunin exams begin! (I will use some ideas from the chuunin exmas from the show, like the first part.)

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Finally, the chuunin exams had arrived. Naruto, Sasuke, and Naomi stood in a large, yet still crowded, room. The room was filled mostly with large, tough looking people, but there were also people who looked more like they survived by wits and traps. And then, there were the nine rookies, who all looked very out of place.

"Oi! Naomi!" Kiba called to his (girl)friend as he, Shino, and Hinata walked over to them.

"Kiba!" Naomi responded happily.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" Ino called, walking over with her team. "Hello, Naomi."

"Hello." Naomi said back.

Kiba stood next to Naomi, and wrapped his arm around her waist. 

"Are you two a couple?" Ino asked.

Naomi and Kiba both blushed.

"Err... well... umm...I..." Naomi stammered.

"Guess so." Kiba finished.

"Don't worry. You two make a cute couple." Ino said, smiling.

"Err... thanks?" Naomi said, still blushing.

A loud voice broke the silence. 

"The first exam will now begin!" it said. "Please enter this room if you are here for the chuunin exams. Please pick up a number on your way in."

"Well." Naomi sighed. "Let's go."

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

munch munch

"Will you stop eating those chips!"

"Pig." Ino muttered under her breath.

"LET'S GO!" Naruto yelled.

The nine rookies walked together into the room, which was lined with tables. These are the numbers everyone got:

Naomi: 68 Sasuke: 34 Naruto: 72 Ino: 10 Shikamaru: 3 Chouji: 102 Hinata: 43 Shino: 92 Kiba: 69

Everyone sat down at their seats, and Naomi was happy that she got to sit next to Kiba, but when she looked to her left, her happiness left her. On the other side of her was Gaara. She looked at Kiba, fear in her eyes. Her gave her a reasurring smile, and she smiled back. She looked behind her, and Naruto was sitting at the table behind her, at one of the ends. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up.

"My name is Morino Ibiki." the jounin in the front of the room announced. "This test will be a written test."

Naomi heard Naruto groan behind her. She knew that this was her teammate's weak point.

"I will hand out the papers now!" 

Ibiki walked up and down the aisles, handing out tests with impossible-looking problems.

"Begin... NOW!"

All the ninjas in the room picked up their pencils and got to work. Naomi knew a few of them, but she soon realized the point of the test. They were testing their abilities at gathering information. Naomi noticed that Akamaru was telling Kiba the answers he didn't have, and Akamaru soon went onto Naomi's shoulder and told her the answers that she hadn't filled in. She whispered her thanks and Akamaru went back onto Kiba's shoulder. Naomi waited out the last 20 minutes by going over her answers again and again, a feeling of fear in the back of her mind the whole time. She didn't feel Gaara looking at her, so she just stared at her paper, making sure not to let her eyes wander, so the chuunins watching them wouldn't think she was cheating. 

-20 minutes later-

"Put down your pencils!" Ibiki yelled. "It's time for the tenth and final question! There is only one extra rule: You don't have to take the last question. If you decide to not take it, you and your teammates can leave and come back next year. If you decide to stay, and you get the question wrong, you will never be able to become a chuunin, therefore you will be a genin for the rest of your life! Decisions can be made now. If you want to leave, just raise your hand. Now is your last chance to leave."

After a few minutes, there were only 72 people left.

"Anyone else?"

No one raised their hand.

"Everyone still here has passed the first exam."

"What?" Temari called. "What about the question?"

"It was a test to see who would sacrifice their chance to become a chuunin so they could at least try. This is actually the biggest number of people I've ever passed. Everyone should go back and get rest; tomorrow you start the second exam!"

Everyone got up and ready to get home. Gaara sent Naomi a glare before meeting with his teammates.

"Is that the person who tried to kill you?" Kiba asked, a hint of hatred in his voice.

"Yes." Naomi answered. "Don't get on his nerves. There's something about him... I doubt that either of us could defeat him. I don't even think the two of us together could beat him."

"Hmph. If he ever touches you again, I'll slit his throat while he's sleeping."

"I don't think that he sleeps."

"What do you mean!"

"See the dark circles around his eyes?"

"Yea."

"That's a sign of insomnia. Or so Zev tells me."

"Naomi-chan!" Naruto called. "How do you think you did on the test?"

"Not that it matters, but I think I did pretty well."

The other six of the nine rookies met up with them outside. 

"That was pretty hard." Chouji complained.

"It wasn't that bad..." Shikamaru muttered.

"I agree. It was pretty easy." Sasuke agreed.

"Y-yes. It was not t-too hard." Hinata stammered.

"We should go back and get some rest." Ino said, strecthing. "I'm excited about tomorrow. Are you excited, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke ignored her, and began to walk home. Ino glared at him, and sighed.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Kiba asked Naomi as he watched everyone else walk away.

"I don't need someone to walk me home!" Naomi remarked. 

"Not even when there is someone out there trying to murder you?"

"I'd think everyone only has sleep on their minds now."

"I thought you thought he was an insomniac?"

"That means he can kill me while I'm asleep!"

"Don't worry. As long as we're a 'couple', I'll protect you."

"Thanks, Kiba. Well, there's my apartment. See you tomorrow."

Kiba waved goodbye to Naomi as she walked into the complex. He let out a sigh and walked home, his hands in his pockets. When he got home, his parents asked him how everything had gone, and afterwards, he went straight to sleep. Naomi, on the other hand, had trouble getting to sleep, because fear was keeping her up. After a while, she drifted off to sleep.

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This should be the last boring chapter. Anyway, expect more action in the next chapter(s). I'll post the next chapter (and this one) with 0 or more reviews, because they are, yes, boring, and FLUFFY! You have to love fluff. Unless you're mad at your friend, and trying to make them feel bad by flaming them. (You know who you are). (IM me about it!) Anyway, aside from that, thanks to those still reading! 


	15. Second Exam, Begin!

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Don't sue me. Don't own Wolf's Rain either.

Back to the action! For things that aren't fully explained, they were probably already explained in the anime/manga, whichever!

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The 72 ninjas met in front of the forest of death. Few people were conversing, but there were some. Everyone was busy looking at the forms they had been given.

"If you're ready to go into the forest of death, hand in your forms here!" Anko yelled. "The timer will start as soon as the gates open."

Everyone handed in their forms, and they stood in front of numbered gates with their teammates. Before the gates opened, Naomi let out a howl, calling Zev, Segolia, and two other wolves, Felan and Toboe (a/n: yes, I did get that one from Wolf's Rain) The gates opened, and everyone went inside. The gates closed behind them.

"We have to hurry if we want to find one of those orbs." Sasuke started. "There are only 12, so we want to find one as soon as possible."

Naomi sniffed the air. "It's odorless. Either that, or it's just so far away that I can't smell it."

"It's probably odorless."

"Should we split up to look for it?" Naruto suggested.

"That wouldn't work. If someone caught one of us alone, there would be trouble."

"Hmph. Fine."

"Shall we get going, then?" Naomi stepped in between the two.

"Good idea, Naomi-chan!" Naruto yelled.

"Shh! Don't talk so loud. We'll be heard."

"Too late to worry about that." a voice came from above them. 

Three rain ninjas jumped down from the trees. They were each holding a kunai, and they lunged at Team 7, each to a different person. The one that jumped at Sasuke was immediatly knocked away by a kunai, and the rain ninja rain away, leaving two. The one that had jumped at Naomi got a deep wound in his shoulder, thanks to Toboe. The one the jumped at Naruto was the only one that put up a fight. Naruto had hit him in the chest, only to find out he had been using the replacement technique. The three rain ninjas again jumped down from the trees. Two of the ninjas attacked, while the other jumped away and began to form a seal.

"Mizu utsu no jutsu!" (water strike technique).

Using water from a nearby stream, the ninja blasted Sasuke, Naruto, and Naomi againset and tree, and using the water, bound them to the tree. Zev, Segolia, Felan, and Toboe started to growl and jumped at the rain ninjas. After giving them some deep wounds, Segolia ran over to the tree and bit at the water rope. On of the ninjas that was battling with Felan managed to wriggle free and jumped towards Segolia, blood welling up from wounds on his legs and arms. Felan growled and jumped towards the ninja, and gave him a blow to the head, knocking him out. Toboe and Zev howled in triumph as Segolia and Felan worked together to break the rope. Sasuke jumped towards the ninja who was being attacked by Toboe, and Naruto went to the other. Naomi went to help her brother, and Felan and Segolia helped Toboe and Sasuke. After a minute, everyone who was fighting stepped away, breathing heavily.

"They've slowed us down." Sasuke muttered. "We'd better hurry."

The three Konoha genins and the four wolves jumped through the trees, leaving the mangled and bloody bodies of the rain ninjas behind. 

-Kiba's team-

"This will be easy for us!" Kiba remarked. "Hinata, can you find an orb using your byakugen?"

"I can try." Hinata answered. "Byakugen!"

Hinata scanned the forest using her Byakugen.

"I think I see something down there!"

"Thanks, Hinata!" Kiba said. "Let's go check it out."

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino jumped into the clearing below and found a white orb, surronded by an orange glow.

"Watch out!" Hinata gasped as Kiba reached his hand out to grab the orb. "That orange glow is a trap! I'm not sure what kind, but it's a trap!"

"Now what?"

"Let's see... There has to be some way to deactivate it... Maybe we should look around to see if we can find anything."

They almost immediatly found a switch, thanks to Hinata's Byakugen. Kiba pressed the switch, and the glow disappeared. Shino ran to grab it, and as soon as he pulled it away, the orange glow returned.

"That was a close one!" Kiba muttered.

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I'm going away to Frost Valley (woot!) for the weekend, so this is all until Monday or so. 


	16. Prelimanaries sp?

Ok, let's pretend everyone got their orbs, because I have plans for the matches that I want to use asap! For matches that are people who aren't important, or matches already used, I'm just going to say the outcome, and not explain them in full detail. Also, some people who won in the manga and anime will not win in my story. Actually, because I tried to write this chapter before, and it absolutely sucked, I'm just going to write out the one most important match because of the flames I got. Well, no. I know that if I tried to write out every match, I'd get really bored and never finish this (even though it took me so long to post even this) I apologize, but this chapter is not going to be good, and I know that, so PLEASE, PLEASE no flames. I'm changing, I want no flames because of the state of depression I'm in. kthanksbye

If anyone has a problem with this being OC-central, please PM me.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

amount of people passed: 24 (8 groups): 4 Konoha, 1 sand, 2 sound, and 1 rain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st match: Tomioka Sakuko (rain nin) vs. Katsura Miyo (sound nin)  
Winner: Katsura Miyo

2nd match: Rock Lee vs. Saga Masaharu (rain nin)  
Winner: Rock Lee

3rd match: Naruto vs. Shino Winner: Naruto

4th match: Ozaki Ryo (sound nin, with a name that I really like! Expect to see this one in other fanfics) vs. Kiba Winner: Ozaki Ryo

5th match: Hinata vs. Neji Winner: ... ... . . . . . . Come on! You should know this one! -cough-Neji-cough-

6th match: Shikamaru vs. Sasuke Winner: Sasuke

Now for the match which I will explain: 

Naomi was too busy congratulating Sasuke to notice her name. 

"The next match will be fought by Nakamura Naomi and Gaara!"

Naomi froze as soon as she heard the name of the person she would be facing. Naomi slowly and shakily made her way down, and stood facing Gaara, who had his arms crossed. He narrowed his eyes at Naomi as she rose her hand into the air.

"I-I give up," her voice was shaky.

The cork was off Gaara's gourd, and the sand was rushing at Naomi. Naomi jumped away from it in fear, and when she glanced at Gaara, he had an evil grin on his face, and a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. Temari and Kankurou stared fearfully at their brother.

"Oh no." Temari muttered to her brother.

The sand was now surronding Naomi, but hadn't touched her. Naomi was surronded, and couldn't go anywhere. She crouched to the ground and put her head in her hands. She let out a scream, and when she looked back up, her eyes were crimson red. She thrust through the sand, and ran towards Gaara.

"The battle's over!" Hayate called. "Stop fighting!"

Naomi ignored him and directly hit Gaara's sand shield. Again, she pushed against it, and this time, she broke through. Temari and Kankurou stared, surprised that someone was capable of breaking Gaara's defense. Gaara dodged Naomi's attacks, and Naomi stopped suddenly. She glared at Gaara, and her eyes changed back to her icy blue. They glared at each other, until Naomi jumped back up next to her teammates, who were staring at her with amazement. She just smiled at them, and they turned back to watch the rest of the matches.

8th match: Yuasa Yasunari vs. Kankurou Winner: Kankurou

9th match: Kin Tsuchi vs. Tenten Winner: Tenten

10th match: Ibuka Tetsui (sound nin) vs. Dosu Kinuta Winner: Dosu Kinuta

11th match: Abumi Zaku vs. Chouji Winner: Chouji

12th match: Temari vs. Ino Winner: Temari

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The next chapters will be mostly based off of romance, which means fluff. Two reviews for next chapter. 


	17. Grass Ninja Returns

"I'm sorry I didn't get to see your battle." Kiba apologized to Naomi as they walked through the forest. "How did it go?"

"Well... I'll tell you as long as you promise not to say anything until the end, no matter how surprising it may be."

"Sure, Naomi."

"I fought Gaara. Of course my fear made me give up, but he still attacked me. Hayate-san... stopped the battle before it went too far."

"What! Are you ok?"

"Physically, yes. Mentally, not really."

Kiba gave Naomi a small kiss on the lips, and smiled at her.

"Did that help at all?"

"A bit."

"No matter what happens, Naomi, I will always love you."

"Same to you. Anyway, I think you can start to practice with actual animals today. Let me find a squirrel. They don't usually get too mad if you mess up. Wolves on the other hand, they get angry. Even Zev and Segolia might bite off a finger or two."

Naomi quietly called a squirrel over to them, and instructed Kiba to have a conversation with it.

"H-hello." Kiba muttered.

"Speak up a bit." Naomi told him. 

"How are you?"

"Hello. I'm good, and you?" the squirrel answered.

"Good, thanks for asking. Umm... What's it like being a squash?"

"A squash?..."

"Kiba." Naomi giggled. "You said squash instead of squirrel."

Kiba blushed. "I-I meant to do that! I mean, a squirrel."

"Well... You know... I guess it's ok. I'd rather be a cat or something that doesn't always have to worry about so many predators!"

"Good point."

"Get down!" Naomi suddenly hissed. "Stay quiet!"

Kiba, Naomi, and the squirrel ducked down. After a minute, Naomi sat back up.

"I think it's gone."

Without getting up, Kiba answered, "What was it?"

"A giant falc-"

Naomi was suddenly grabbed by two huge talons. 

"HELP!" She screamed. "Put me down!"

"PUT HER DOWN!" Kiba yelled at the bird.

The squirrel ran back to its nest and hid. Kiba threw a kunai at the bird. The bird screeched in rage and flew towards Kiba. 

"Watch out, Kiba!"

Kiba narrowly dodged the bird's beak as it rushed towards the ground. The bird got its beak stuck into the ground, but kept its grasp on Naomi. Kiba quickly threw three more kunai at the bird, and Naomi was freed from its grasp.

"Thank you, Kiba. I wonder where that thing came from?"

"We should finish it off. It's dangerous, apparently."

"Alright."

Naomi took out a kunai and killed the bird with one blow.

"It was weak already." she pointed out.

"Yea."

Kiba pulled his kunais out of the bird, and wiped them on the ground in an attempt to get rid of the blood.

"Where did that thing come from?"

"I summoned it. I did think that you looked familiar."

A grass ninja stepped out of the bushes, holding out a long sword. He smirked at Naomi.

"You're that girl I used the burning chest jutsu on, correct?"

"You!" Naomi gasped, a hint of fear in her voice. "What do you want?"

"To get rid of you. Hamaguchi-san made it to the meeting, after all. But there, of course, we got rid of him."

"We...?"

"Yes, we. You think I could get rid of him all alone, especially because he was surronded by so many powerful ninjas at that meeting. Why don't you tell me your name, missy? Unless you'd prefer to lose some more blood."

"No, that's okay. My name is Nakamura Naomi, if you care that much. And why would you want to kill Masatake-san anyway?"

"I think little nature freaks should mind their own business. Don't you agree, little boy?"

"I honestly have no clue what the hell you are talking about, but no, I don't really agree. If Naomi wants to know something, you should tell her."

"Aww. Sticking up for your girlfriend, huh? I would think that she should be able to fight her own battles, but I guess I was wrong. Well then, I'll get rid of the both of you. Now who should I kill first?..."

"It's not a good idea to mock me." Naomi's voice was slightly harsher than before. "You really don't want me to get angry."

"Trying to scare me? It's not working."

"Zev! Segolia!"

Zev and Segolia ran to Naomi, and stood on either side of her, growling at the grass ninja.

"Wolves?"

"Yes, wolves. Now leave this place!"

The grass ninja narrowed his eyes at Naomi and smirked. He jumped at Kiba, but Kiba dodged. The ninja created a seal with his hands, and again jumped at Kiba, but this time hit his arm. 

"Don't hurt him!" Naomi roared, her voice extremely harse.

Her eyes turned crimson, and the anger burned inside of her again. Kiba stared at her with wide eyes.

"N-Naomi?"

Naomi pulled out her stone kunai and lunged at the grass ninja. He managed to avoid a fatal blow, but Naomi's kunai was thrust deep into his leg. The grass ninja cursed and quickly made a seal.

"Chest constriction jutsu!" he yelled.

Naomi got the same burning sensation in her chest, and again coughed up blood.

"Naomi!" Kiba yelled. "What did you do to her!"

"Naomi!" Zev and Segolia barked in unison.

Akamaru also let out a yip of worry. Segolia ran over to guard her sister, while Zev, Akamaru, and Kiba fought. Zev and Akamaru fastened their teeth deep into the grass nin's arms, whle Kiba came towards him with a kunai, and stabbed him 4 times. 

"Kiba!" Naomi yelled. "The jutsu's not in affect anymore, you can stop!"

Kiba stopped stabbing the ninja, who fell to the ground, dead. He ran over to Naomi, with Zev and Akamaru following.

"Are you okay?" Kiba asked Naomi worriedly.

"I'm fine now." Naomi answered. "Zev, Segolia, the two of you can leave. I'm fine."

"Alright." Zev and Segolia barked.

Zev and Segolia ran into the forest. Kiba hugged Naomi, but suddenly fell to his side, unconcious. Naomi stared at the grass ninja in horror as his wounds closed up before her eyes.

"What the!" she gasped.

"I'm an advanced medical ninja, who created a liquid that works to heal me when I'm close to death. It's nearly impossible for me to die. Goodbye."

He created an unfamiliar seal, and Naomi became unconcious as well.

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Same policy: Two reviews, please no flames, only really nice constructive critism. 


	18. Between Us

Sorry, but I think I have issues in my brain, so no matter how hard I try to remind myself, I can never remember to put stuff said in the forest language in bold italics. I'm really going to try to remember from now on. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters. Do own Naomi and the wolves.

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Naomi woke up in a hospital bed, Kakashi sitting on a chair in the corner reading his book.

"Naomi!" he called. "You're awake."

"Where's Kiba!" Naomi demanded.

"In another room."

"Is he all right? What about Akamaru? And what happened to the grass ninja? And-"

"Calm down. He's fine, and Akamaru is fine, too. The grass ninja's dead."

"Who killed him?"

"... I did."

"Oh... Do you know when I'll be able to go see Kiba?"

"When the nurse says that it's ok. Ah. There she is now."

"Hello. How are you feeling, Naomi-san."

"Fine, thank you. Do you know anything about Inuzuka Kiba? Can I go visit him?"

"It seems that you're better, so yes, you can. I'll go with you to check on him. I'm not sure if he's awake yet."

"Well, then. I'll see you in a few days, Naomi. Not tomorrow. I'll have Naruto or Sasuke tell you when."

"All right. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi left the room, and Naomi followed the nurse to Kiba's room. Kiba was just awakening.

"Kiba!"

"Naomi? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I've recovered completely from his jutsu. What about you?"

Akamaru let out an angry yowl.

"_**And of course how are you feeling, Akamaru**_"

"**_Good, thanks for asking._**" he replied.

"I'm fine, too." Kiba answered.

"That's great. I was really worried about you."

"I see that both of you are feeling fine," the nurse interupted, "so you can both go home."

Kiba and Naomi walked outside, and together went to Naomi's apartment. Naomi and Kiba sat on the couch, and before either of them could process what was going on, Kiba was on top of Naomi, and their lips were locked in a kiss. After they broke apart, they stayed in that position for a few minutes, before Kiba and Naomi both started to blush and sat up.

"**_Do you want me to leave the room?_**" Akamaru asked.

"_**You can go home,**_" Kiba answered him.

Naomi opened the door for him, and Akamaru left Naomi and Kiba alone. Kiba and Naomi sat on the couch, not looking at each other; they were both still embarressed at what had just happened between the two of them.

"Are you... hungry? Yes, hungry?" Naomi asked Kiba.

"A bit. You want to go out? We can go for ramen."

"Sure."

Naomi and Kiba went to Ichiraku ramen, where they met up with Naruto, and surprisingly, Sasuke.

"Hello, Naomi-chan!" Naruto called.

"Hi, Naruto-kun. Hello, Sasuke-kun."

"Hi Naomi-san." Sasuke muttered.

Naomi and Kiba sat down at the two open stools, and ordered a bowl of ramen each.

"I thought that you didn't like ramen." Naruto pointed out.

"Umm..." Naomi silentely cursed to herself. "I just... hadn't tried it then... and now I did... and it's ok. Heh."

"Oh. I see."

Naruto went back to his (tenth) bowl of ramen.

"How many missions did I miss this time?" Naomi asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You only missed one." Sasuke answered her. "It wasn't anything big, either. It was only a C-ranked."

"Good. I really hate the fact that I've missed so much training and missions. It's annoying."

"Kiba." Naruto started, his tenth bowl of ramen sitting empty in a pile with 9 others. "Where's your dog?"

"Oh, him," Kiba muttered, while Naomi and him both blushed. "He went home. He doesn't at all like ramen..."

"Oh."

Naomi sent a nervous, yet thankful glance at Kiba, who returned her gesture.

"Well, I'd best get going. I'm done for today, bye!"

Naruto paid Ayame, then he left. Sasuke moved over to Naruto's spot, so he was sitting next to Naomi, and Naomi was in between him and Kiba.

"Here's your ramen." Ayame said, placing a bowl in front of Naomi, and another in front of Kiba.

Naomi nodded her thanks and took chopsticks, and with perfection, broke them apart. She took a small amount of noodles in them, and ate them. Kiba also began to eat his ramen. Sasuke left, and went back home. After Naomi and Kiba had finished their meal, they parted and went home. Naomi sighed as she watched Kiba walk away. Even though what had happened between the two of them eariler was a huge surprise, she had enjoyed it.

'I hope Kiba and I stay together for a long time.' Naomi thought to herself.


	19. Month Off

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto 

If anyone has ideas that I could use, please say so. Otherwise, I'm going to end this soon. But, don't fear. There definetely will be a sequel.

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The next morning, it was time for another mission. Naomi was the first at the meeting place, along with Zev and Segolia. She had to wait for a few minutes for Sasuke, and then Naruto came.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto groaned.

"Probably late again." Naomi answered. "_**Zev, how have Felan and Toboe been?**_"

"**_Felan is going to give birth to Toboe's pups soon._**" Zev responded.

"**_That's great! I'm happy for them._**"

"He's always late." Sasuke grumbled. "I'd think that you'd be used to it by now, but then, you never cease to surprise me, Naruto."

"But he's ALWAYS LATE." Naruto continued to complain.

"Naruto," Naomi started, "Sasuke's right. You should learn to get used to it."

"Then why don't we just sleep later?"

"In case he actually does come on time, for once."

"Not that he ever will."

Kakashi walked over to his students, his nose in his book.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. "You're late again!"

"Oh well." Kakashi responded, putting away his book. "I have to start training Sasuke for the main matches, which are coming up soon. Naruto, I got you a personal trainer. So... Naomi, you can just.. go home until the exams are officially over, I guess."

"Alright."

Naomi walked back to her apartment with her siblings, and along the way, she met up with Hinata.

"Hinata-san!" she called. "How are you?"

"Oh, hello, Naomi-san." Hinata was comfortable enough around Naomi to talk without being nervous. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"That's good. Are you off for the rest of the month, too?"

"No. We just have a day off. No one from our team made it through, so we're just doing missions."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense."

"**_Who's that?_**" Zev barked. "**_I've seen her before, but what is her name?_**"

"**_Hyuuga Hinata-san. She's on Kiba... and Shino's team._**"

"**_Did something happen between you and Kiba? It seems very awkward when you mention his name._**" Segolia barked.

"Oh... I didn't notice. I've got to go, Hinata-san. Bye."

"Bye, Naomi-san."

Naomi talked to her Zev and Segolia as she walked away. "**_No, nothing happened between me and Kiba. What do you mean by that, anyway?_**"

"**_There was nothing more than... just one kiss between you, was there?_**"

A hot blush ran onto Naomi's cheeks. "_**No! Nothing that! We were both fully clothed.**_"

"**_Sure. I believe you._**"

"_**Segolia! Would you two just leave me alone for now, please!**_"

"**_Let's go, Segolia._**" Zev instructed.

Segolia and Zev ran off, leaving Naomi to walk by herself. She walked to the park, and sat down on one of the benches. She let out a long sigh, thinking of what had happened that night. Segolia was right, things between her and Kiba were... different. Were they breaking up?

"Naomi!" Naomi glanced up to see Kiba walking towards her.

She looked back down at the ground, still thinking about what Segolia had said.

"Is something wrong?"

Kiba sat down next to Naomi and she looked up at him, a sadness in her eyes.

"What happened? Is everything alright?"

"It's... nothing... I'm just... Maybe I never should have left the forest..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..."

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This is going to end next chapter. The ending might be a bit fluffy, but that's ok :).


	20. Angel end

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

This will be the last chapter of Angel in the Flames. I MIGHT have a sequel, depending on the number of reviews I get for this chapter. This chapter might be a bit angsty, but it will have a happy ending :) I promise. :)

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"Well... A few minutes after I had avenged my mother, I was talking with Zev and Segolia. I don't really remember much, but I know I was crying. I told my siblings how much I hated humans, and that if a human ever set foot in the forest again, I would kill them. I wanted to rid the whole world of humans. Zev told me then that I, myself, was actually a human, and not a wolf. I didn't believe him, but when I looked at myself in a puddle, I knew that he was right. I really was a human. I ran out of the forest, and went to live on my own. Somebody taught me the human language, and housed me for a year. Then, I went to live by myself."

"...Oh. I can see why you would regret leaving the forest. It must've been hard for you."

"It was very hard. But, I still go into the forest, as you know, a lot. I'm glad that I'm still so connected with nature. I just wouldn't be myself if I didn't love nature as much as I do. Do you want to finish your lessons? I think it'll only take about an hour."

"Sure. I have the day off, so I have plenty of time."

Kiba got up and started to walk towards Naomi's apartment.

"Kiba?"

"What's up, Naomi?"

"...Things between us... Everything's fine between us, right?"

"Yeah. What would make you think that there was something wrong?"

"I don't know... Ever since that incident... Things seemed... awkward... between us."

"... You didn't... enjoy that?"

"I did, but... it just seemed... awkward... afterwards."

"It did seem awkward. But everything's fine now. Let's go."

"... Good."

Naomi and Kiba walked side-by-side back to Naomi's apartment, holding hands. Naomi opened the door, and saw Segolia standing there.

"**_What do you want?_**" Naomi said through clenched teeth.

"**_I wanted to first of all, say that I was sorry, and second, tell you that Felan gave birth just a few minutes ago._**"

"**_Really? Is Felan okay? You look a bit worried._**"

"_**Felan is fine, but Toboe is nowhere to be found. He's been missing for almost a day now. Felan is worried.**_"

"**_Do you know what happened to him?_**"

"**_I think he just went to take some time to himself. Zev wants me to come back as soon as possible so that he can look for him. Will you please join me?_**"

"... Kiba, what do you think?"

"Let's go."

Naomi followed Segolia, with Kiba not far behind, into the forest. They came upon Felan and Zev, along with 3 pups.

"**_Cute!_**" Naomi exclaimed. "**_Zev, you can go ahead now._**"

"**_I'll be back,_**" Zev reassured Felan. "**_I'll find him, don't worry._**"

"_**Thank you so much, Zev.**_" Felan whimpered quietly.

Zev gave a nod, and ran off to find Toboe.

"**_The pups are adorable,_**" Naomi said, trying to change the subject. "**_Did you name them yet?_**"

"**_I want Toboe to help me name them. I'm going to wait for a while._**"

"**_...All right. That makes perfect sense._**"

The sound of a gunshot broke the silence. Felan looked up in fear, and Naomi and Kiba looked around to pinpoint where it had come from. A group of six hunters surronded them, holding hunting rifles.

"**_Hunters._**" Naomi growled.

"Fire at my command!" one of the hunters yelled.

"Don't you dare! The first person to fire their gun is dead. I wouldn't try my luck if I were you."

"Trying to protect the animals, eh? Then we'll just kill you along with them."

"Sanzo-san," another hunter said with a worried voice. "They're ninjas. Look at their kiate-ates. I don't think that we should mess with them."

"Ninjas, huh? Let's take them out first, then."

Naomi howled, calling many wolves to her side. A few squirrels also came out from their nests, trying to look strong. Two of the squirrels jumped onto Naomi's shoulders. The hunters stared in fear as Naomi's eyes turned crimson. The hunters ran away as fast as they could, dropping their guns to the ground. Naomi jumped on one of the wolves, and was about to follow the hunters.

"Naomi!" Kiba yelled. "Don't! It's okay. I don't think that they'll be returning here anymore."

Naomi glared for a moment at Kiba, then her eyes returned to their blue color. "I'm sorry, Kiba."

"It's alright. I know that you can't help it. Anyway, is that Zev?"

"Hmm?**_ Zev! Did you find Toboe?_**"

"_**Yes. He's right here. We had to avoid a few hunters who seemed to be running from... something. I'm not sure what...**_"

"**_Felan!_**" Toboe called as he ran to his mate. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"**_Where were you?_**" Felan demanded. "_**I was worried.**_"

"_**I was finding us a cave. It's a big one. Once the pups are old enough to travel, we can take them there.**_"

"**_Thank you. That was sweet._**"

"Naomi, don't you think we should get going?" Kiba asked.

"Yea. **_I'll come by later. See you later!_**"

Naomi and Kiba walked back to Naomi's apartment, and spent a little over an hour on finishing teaching Kiba.

"Naomi, I have a question to ask."

"What is it, Kiba?"

"Are you glad that you left the forest?"

"...Kind of. I'm not happy because I feel so much more at home in the forest, but I also would feel uncomfortable living there, because I'm human. I'm glad I left, though, because I made many new friends, and of course, I met you."

"Are you sure that you're human?"

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just that you seem more like an angel than a human."

"You see an angel in all this anger? This burning rage makes you see an angel?"

"Yes, it does. An angel in flames. My angel in the flames."


	21. NOTICE ON SEQUEL

The sequel is up. It's titled "Do I?".

Summary: Kiba and Naomi are getting married, but after living in the forest for 11 years, Naomi doesn't know much about weddings. In the end, will she say 'I do'?

If anyone wants to be my editor, I might want one. But I have to think about it. 


End file.
